Rusty Nails
by no heart to follow
Summary: Takes place before the Kira fiasco. There's a serial killer on the loose! And he's after red heads. Matt's not particularly worried, but the issue has the rest of Wammy's walking on eggshells. What happens when the killer picks his next target...?
1. Chapter 1

It was three thirty on a Saturday at Wammy House for gifted children. That meant that there were no evening classes. So most kids were either outside playing or in their dorms studying. The playroom, however, was mostly empty. Well, except for a red haired boy curled up on one of the recliners playing some sort of handheld video game. It was amazing he could even see the pixilated characters through his goggles, tinting everything orange.

"Come on you bastard, die already!" The boy growled under his breath, mashing the 'A' button on his game continuously. "Wait, no! Don't do that!" He continued pounding the buttons on his consol in seemingly random orders. "Ha! Take that!" His victory was apparently short lived as whatever imaginary foe he was fighting gained a power boost. "No! I only had two lives left you ass!"

Matt might've played his game in his dorm, instead of coming to the other end of the orphanage to hide out in the playroom if not for his roommate. Matt usually did just about anything to avoid the rampaging blond when test scores came in each month. It was like Mello's PMS time or something. Mello almost always had the second highest scores, and coming in second never exactly pleased him. Matt deemed it safer to just avoid the other boy.

"I can't believe that little shit!"

Well _that _plan just when flying out the proverbial window.

Matt curled up tighter into his little ball and tried to become invisible. How was he supposed to concentrate with his roommate bitching in his ear?

Did Mello have some kind of 'Matt radar' or something? Maybe he uses the foil wrapping of his chocolate bars to create some sort of device that can pick up signals from Matt's gameboy…

Or maybe Matt read too many science fiction books.

"Look at this!" Mello growled, "Just look at it!" Mello shoved one of the papers he was holding under the red head's nose. "We gave the exact same answer! The same _fucking_ answer and he still beat me! Tell me, how the _hell _does that work?"

Matt glanced at the sheet, managing to fall into a pattern with his fingers that would keep his character alive for a few minutes. It appeared to be an old case and you were supposed to write an essay on how you would go about solving it. Matt could guess that Mello had given the answer he knew his teacher would be looking for, while in reality he'd go about the case in a more Mello-esque fashion, but Near would go with what he wrote down. Mello got less points on his because he wasn't being true to his personality.

Of course, Matt didn't mention this. He wouldn't be able to finish his game if he were suddenly decapitated. So instead he muttered a quiet, "It's bullshit," for his friend's benefit and returned his attention to the glowing two inch screen that held everything he cared about in the world (at the moment).

Mello was about to say something else when he was (thank god) interrupted by a group of five children rushing into the playroom, looks of utter hysteria and panic on their faces. The leader, who Matt recognized as Linda, was holding a news paper in her hand.

"Matt!" A little brown haired boy called. "Oh my god you're still alive!"

"Mello's not that dangerous guys," Matt said casually, finally turning off his game and giving up on all hope for privacy. Seriously, did everyone get Matt-dar installed while he was sleeping?

The blond shot a brief glare at the younger boy. "What's up with you guys anyways?" He asked, turning to the group. He crumpled the grade papers in his fist and shoved them into one of his black jeans' many pockets.

"You two have to read this!" Linda gasped out, shoving the papers into Matt's hands like Mello had done previously.

**Serial Killer At Large!**

"What a pleasant title," Matt murmured.

"Just read it!" A girl shrieked impatiently.

_Four days ago on August 2__nd__ 2003, a seventeen girl by the name of Emily Weston was found dead in her room in Winchester, England. She had been slashed with a knife of some sort no less than twenty five times, it also appears that she had been drugged and did not wake up during the attack._

_Emily's parents refused to communicate with the press, but her funeral is set for sometime next month._

_Unfortunately, Ms. Weston is not the only victim. Michel Sampson, a forty three year old waiter at a local restaurant was found killed in and identical way two days earlier. His body discovered about half a day after the deed according to forensic investigators._

_But the most recent and by far chilling of the murders is of twenty two year old David Wright, a college student from Ireland who had been on a summer road trip with his best friend (Cody Bryant) and his girlfriend (Cheryl Brooks). The three pulled up to a convenience store to get some gas and snacks. Wright had apparently fallen asleep in the back of the car while his two mates went inside. When they returned the windows had all been smeared with blood and the David was dead. All the doors were locked and the windows were rolled up. The police claim they found no evidence of a break in or a struggle on Wrights part. It is assumed he was killed by the same person or persons who killed Emily and Weston. _

_Cheryl shakily informed investigators that they had only been in the store "for fifteen minutes, tops" and knew nothing of the previous murders. So far no charges have been filed against the two students and they are not suspects in the murder._

_The three victims seem very different. But they all have one thing in common. All of the people killed so far have had red hair and green eyes. The serial killer is still at large and so far the police have not informed the press of any leads they may have. _

The article went on about warnings to the public to lock their windows and doors at night. Matt looked up from the paper to the worried faces of his fellow orphans.

"…okay," he said. "What about it?"

Mello snatched the paper from the other boy's hands and began reading.

Linda rolled her eyes and grabbed Matt's goggles, snapping them over the bridge of his nose. "You idiot. You fit the descriptions of the victims! And it's happening near here!" She growled. Matt rubbed face, glaring at the artist.

"We were worried about you…" A black haired boy muttered.

Matt was about to reply when he heard the crinkling of paper. Mello passed the article back to Linda, rolling his eyes. "You all are overreacting." He drawled, annoyed. "Matt hardly ever leaves the house. It's not like the killer would even know he exists."

"Yeah but-"

"No buts!" Mello snapped. "The police will catch the killer eventually, you don't have anything to be panicking over."

"Yeah," Matt said, "It's fine guys. We don't have anything to worry about here." He reached for his game and stood up. "Besides, if he were to even try to kill me, I'd use my mad gaming skills to send him crying into the night." With that he walked out of the play room, patting one of the kids on the head as he left.

"You know, Matt, life isn't like a video game!" Linda called after him, "You don't get any free lives."

"Don't need one! I'm just that good!" He called back, voice already distant.

--

Later that night, Mello and Matt were getting ready for bed.

"Hey, do you think L will take the case?" Matt asked suddenly, as he slipped off his goggles.

"Huh? What case?" Mello pulled a dark blue night-shirt over his head and gave his friend a confused look.

"That red head killing case." The other boy replied, "You know, the one Linda and the others told us about earlier? It seemed like something he'd be interested in."

"Dunno." Mello admitted, "Why do you ask? Are you scared? Hoping L will catch the bad guy before he sneaks into your bed and cuts you up like a turkey?" He teased, grinning to reveal pointed teeth.

Matt threw one of his shoes at the blond. "No." He growled, "I was just curious."

"I think you're scared."

"Whatever."

Mello began to make clucking sounds, but Matt threw his other shoe at him.

"Ha! Now I have both your shoes! How are you going to escape the killer now Matty? You'd need your shoes!"

"Go to bed you dork." Matt grumbled, flopping down onto his bed, still half dressed. _Jeeze, how many chocolate bars did Mello have today? _The boy wondered to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

Mello waited until he was sure that Matt was off in Gamer La-La land before getting out of his bed. He stalked soundlessly over to the other boy's side of the room, shutting and locking the window.

"Idiot…" He muttered, unsure whether or not he was talking to himself or the red head sleeping peacefully a few feet away.


	2. Broken Toys

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A/n: This chapter is mostly about Mello. And it's kind of angsty and gory. I'm actually not too happy with how it came out but…

_Mihael was only seven, but his mother allowed him to walk to and from school every day on his own. Mihael enjoyed his independence from his parents and often boasted about it to the other students._

_But to day was one of those days where you really wish that there was someone walking beside you to talk with. Mihael had gotten the highest score on the written test in all of the second grade classes in his school. His teacher had suggested sending him directly to the fourth grade next year and he wanted to tell his mother immediately._

_Mihael knew something was amiss as soon he stepped up to the porch. There wasn't anything particularly unusual about the state of the house, but more a vibe that sent chills down the blond child's spine._

_Warily he reached out to open the door. At first glance nothing seemed different, and Mihael berated himself for being so foolish. But as he stepped inside the atmosphere became cold. The boy was very aware of the quiet hanging over him._

_"Hello?" He called softly, taking a cautious step forwards. He felt something squelching beneath his sneaker. He looked down and let out a cry of shock and horror._

_He was _standing _on the remains of his younger sister._

_She was barely recognizable. It looked as though someone, or something, had ripped her open and strewn her innards across the entryway of the house. Her drying blood was black on the green carpet._

_Mihael backed away quickly, but he was unable to take his eyes off the horrid mess that had been a breathing girl that morning before he'd left for school._

_"Mommy!" He cried out, voice cracking._

_No answer._

_Mihael felt pressure behind his eyes and knew he was going to start crying. "Dad!" he sobbed out._

_Nothing._

_The tears began to flow freely and the sobbing boy stumbled blindly to his parents' room._

_Mihael screamed._

_His mother was dangling from the ceiling. One of his dad's belts had been used to hang the woman by her neck. The blond woman was stripped naked and her skin had been ripped away along her front. Blood was running down her legs and dripping off the tips of her toes to the floor._

_The young boy thankfully didn't see his father's corpse on the other side of the bed in the room. The man had been bludgeoned to an unrecognizable mashed thing that looked more like ground beef than the man it was supposed to be._

_Mihael fell to his knees and continued to wail. He didn't know that his screams had been heard. He didn't know that his worried neighbors had come over in their worry, calling the police when they saw the gore in the doorway. He didn't even notice when an officer lifted him up to take him away from the scene. He only knew that his whole world was coming to an end. And he kept screaming._

Mello jerked awake, drenched in a cold sweat. He brought his hands to his face and groaned. He hadn't dreamt of his family's murder in years. He realized he was crying and wiped the offending drops away with the back of his sleeve.

"Damnit," he sobbed into his fists. How could he have been affected by the murders when Matt wasn't? It was ridiculous. The man who'd murdered his family (along with four others) had long since been sentenced to death. The guy was probably rotting in death row by now. Mello's nightmare's had even ceased in the years since he came to Wammy House.

"Until tonight…" he muttered bitterly to himself. Brushing more tears away and trying to calm himself down some. His heart was still beating rapidly in his chest.

And Matt had had the nerve to sleep peacefully through his nightmare! _'Some best friend he turned out to be' _Mello thought, getting somewhat irked with the red head. _'He should've woke up.' _Though Mello never really made any extremely loud noises while sleeping.

Now that Mello was on the thought of 'sleeping noises', he realized that Matt was uncharacteristically quiet that night. The other boy was usually a loud enough sleeper to wake the dead, and then kill them all over again.

"Hey, Matt?" the blond hissed to the darker side of the room. He received no response. Mello pushed his covers down and swung his legs over the bed, debating on whether or not to go check on his roommate. "Matt?" He called, somewhat louder.

The silence made something cold drop into the thirteen-year-old's stomach.

"Wake up right now and get your ass out of bed!" Mello's voice rose to a level just below yelling.

But there was nothing from the red head's side of the room.

Images of gore and death flashed in the back of the young genius's mind, but he pushed them away. He'd locked the window. There's no way…

Mello felt a slight breeze.

Looking over could barely make out the window. It was open.

'_Fuck shit no damn hell murderer crap God fucking window' _

Mello couldn't move. He wanted more than anything to get up and turn on the light, storm over to Matt's bed and shake him awake, then force the other kid to go on chocolate raid or something. Anything to get them out of this room.

But if he turned on the light then the entire room would become visible. And Matt wouldn't be Matt but a twisted heap of dismantled flesh and blood and Mello needed to leave that mother fucking room right now.

The blond got up and was out the door before you could blink.

'First floor. Rodger's room,' Mello's mind supplied. 'Get Rodger.' His feet headed towards the stairs, taking the rest of him with them. Mello didn't pay attention to where he was going, the direction to Rodger's office room was permanently engraved in his mind and he was being brought there on auto pilot.

He didn't see the other kid coming up the stairs until he bowled over him.

The two tumbled the rest of the way down the marble step and landed in a pile of twisted limbs and groans.

"Mello, could you get your elbow out of my gut?" A voice asked from below him.

The blond looked down to see who he'd trampled. "I-Matt?" He blinked down at the shock of blood read hair and orange tinted goggles.

"No, it's Santa. What do you want for Christmas?" The kid said sarcastically, shoving the older boy off of him. "Where are you going this late?"

"Uh… I need more chocolate." Mello lied, not wanting to let Matt know he'd been scared. He'd run out of the room when he thought Matt was dead. Some friend he was.

"Oh, you must be really deprived then," Matt laughed, "you were going like, ninety miles an hour or something!"

"Yeah…" Mello muttered, distracted.

"Well… I could go with you to get some…?" The younger genius offered.

"That's okay," Mello dismissed, "I think I still have some under my mattress now that I think about it."

The red head slapped his friend on the forehead. "God, you goin' senile or something?"

Mello growled and stood up, grabbing Matt's arm and hoisting him with him. "You wish." He said, "If I went crazy that'd make you second here."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Matt grinned, "Maybe if I keep you from eating chocolate for a few days you really will lose it."

"And how would you get my chocolate without losing all your fingers?" Mello demanded, "It's not like I hide them without laying traps."

"Are you forgetting who designed the traps for you?" came the cocky reply.

"I just like to let you feel useful." The blond waved the other boy off, "I've got my own tricks."

"Whatever," Matt said, running ahead as they came closer to their dorm. He opened the door and disappeared inside.

Mello wasn't far behind; when he entered Matt had already buried himself in his blankets. The window was still open and the over emotional boy had to wonder why it was open again. He shuddered and shut it again, making sure to lock it.

Matt rolled over half way to give his friend a confused stare.

"Too fucking cold." The blond growled, "From now on I want to keep the window shut. Okay?"

"Uh… fine?" Matt said, forming the reply as a question.

"Good," Mello huffed, flopping down on the bed and falling into another fitful sleep.

--

Matt _did _wake up the next morning, much to the surprise of the other students. Mello seemed to be over whatever had been bugging him the previous night. He was reading through a psychology theory book and eating a bar of chocolate while Matt ate cereal.

The red head was meticulously eating his Lucky Charms, eating around the marshmallows and spitting out any that he accidentally put in his mouth.

"That's disgusting." Mello informed his friend. "Why are you eating them like that?"

"Like what?" Matt asked, confused, spitting a little heart shaped marshmallow back into his bowl.

"Like that!" The blond exclaimed, pointing to the saliva and milk covered cereal bit with a shudder.

Matt just blinked, "isn't that the way you're supposed to eat them?" He asked.

"What?"

"Well, first you have to eat the little wheat things to get them out of the way. But sometimes the marshmallows hide on the bottom of the spoon, and even if you accidentally get one in your mouth, you can't eat it." the goggle head explained, "Then once you're done with the first part you have to eat the marshmallows in the right order."

"And what order is that?" Mello asked, not really caring anymore.

"The way the commercial goes," Matt said between carefully selected bites. "You know: 'Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes, Clovers and Blue Moons. Pots of Gold and Rainbows, and the Red Balloons.'" He even said it in that annoying lilting way that the children on the television did. Matt really had no shame.

Mello turned away from him. "Okay, I don't know you anymore."

Matt's eyes welled up with big fake tears, "W-what?" his voice was laced with the perfect balance of shock and hurt, and even Mello almost believed he'd actually offended his friend. Until, of course, Matt ruined the affect by tackling the blond and starting to quote friendships speeches from the animes aired on Saturday morning cartoons.

--

"…and the burning torch of our friendship will rise above the darkness of…."

"Matt, I swear to God if you don't get off me I'll rip your…"

"…and even the sharpest blade cannot cut through the fabric of…"

"…not even gonna have to worry about that killer in a second!"

"…can't really remember what comes after that, but then there's this Shining Light of Hope and Justice or someshit that-"

"Are you two okay?" A smooth voice asked from behind Matt.

He straightened up so that he was sitting on Mello's stomach. He looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Hey Near, what's up?"

Mello snarled, "What's that little albino freak doing in here?!" He demanded, as if it were unusual for Near to enter the cafeteria. Which, actually, it was. The young prodigy usually spent most of his time locked up in his playroom. Yes, the playroom is actually his.

"My playroom was invaded," he said simply, "I deemed it safer to move on to a more…" he looked around, waiting for the right word to come to him, "public area."

Matt leaned back against Mello's knees, still half turned to face Near. He ignored the other boy's shouts and death threats. "Who invaded?" He asked.

"Gypsy's little gang." Near replied, twisting a strand of white hair around his index finger.

Gypsy's group, more like pack, had five members total, making it the third larges gang of bullies at Wammy House. Out of the four hundred twenty three students at Wammy's they were among the elite. Four of them were in the top one hundred students, and two of those were in the top twenty. Gypsy herself was eighteenth in rank, and her right hand, Shiloh, was sixth. Bo was the youngest and biggest in the pack, just three months older than Mello, and he was in the bottom fifty students. He was the closest thing Wammy's could get to 'big and stupid'. Though at this orphanage, there really was no such thing.

Gypsy's main targets seemed to be her fellow top twenty classmates, Shiloh received amnesty for being her sister's boyfriend and also a useful member. Mello and Matt didn't usually get bothered by them because, well, anyone who messed with Mello didn't walk away without being horribly disfigured. And anyone who messed with Matt was messing with Mello. The pack so far found them 'not worth the trouble'.

Near, on the other hand, was a perfect target. He was small, physically weak, and annoyingly intelligent. Anything they could do to him to throw him off his game without evoking the wrath of Rodger was done.

Mello finally got annoyed with the striped boy on his gut and shoved him aside roughly. He stood up to glare at his archrival. "So what?" He stated, "it's not like they've never come into your little playroom before."

"Well they…" Near trailed off, something he didn't do often.

"They _what?_" Mello pressed.

"They started breaking the toys L gave me…" He admitted almost sheepishly.

Matt stood up to stand next to Mello, "Why not just go to Rodger then?" he asked, confused.

"Do to certain circumstances; I thought it best to let them have their way for today." Near said, not sounding entirely convincing.

Matt could tell that Near was upset by the loss of his toys. The twelve year old was an easy person to read, but Matt and Mello had known him long enough to be able to tell when he was distressed. He had to feel sorry for the kid, even if being Mello's friend meant he couldn't help him out.

"So why are you telling us?" Mello asked.

"I'm not expecting you to help me." Near muttered, "I only came over here because you two looked like you were engaging in less than pg thirteen activities. You were the ones whom asked me why I wasn't in the playroom."

Mello colored at the words, grabbing Matt by the shirt and began dragging him out of the dining hall.

"Mello where-"

"Back to our dorm until classes start. Or I swear I'm gonna hit that brat."

"But I wasn't finish-"

"You can gross me out some other time. Now shut the fuck up." Mello barked, effectively shutting the other kid up.

But almost as soon as they returned to their room Mello was leaving.

"Stay here." He ordered.

"Why?" Matt asked, exasperated.

"Because, I need to take my anger out on _something. _And if I stay here any longer I can't guarantee you'd come out with all your bones intact."

The scary thing was that that statement was probably true.

Matt sighed, "Whatever you say," he muttered, going over to his bed to retrieve his DS. "Just don't kill anyone."

The door slammed without an answer given.


	3. It's Getting Hard to Breathe

The chapter that comes after two... uh... four?  
Disclaimer: I disclaim. :3  
A/n: Holy crap! I'm updating!?

-0-0-0-0-0-START-0-0-0-0-0-

Matt had spent the better part of an hour waiting for Mello to get back, and he had missed most of first period. Not that that was really much of a tragedy, but still. He tapping away at one of his gameboy games, waiting for the enraged blond to cool off and come back.  
Who knows when that would be...  
Matt sighed in aggravation, turning off his game and setting it on his dresser. For all he knew, Mello had gotten caught beating the crap out of some kid and was in locked up in Rodger's office getting one of the old man's infamous three-hour lectures.  
Great, he was giong to be stuck here all day.  
Well, nothing left to do but accept his fate and wait for Mello to get back. He slid off his bed lifted up the mattress, reaching back until he felt the corner of a small carton of cigarettes. He grinned, pulling it out. It wasn't the most original hiding place in the world, but it's not like Mello ever looked. He walked over to the window, pushing it open and pulling out his lighter. He'd been smoking for a few months now, and no one had found out so far. Well, Near knew.. but it wasn't like the sheep boy was going to tell on him. Hopefully.  
Matt opened his carton, taking out one white cancer stick and placing it between his lips, lighting it quickly and taking a drag. He liked to keep the window open at all times so that Mello wouldn't smell the cancerous smoke when he came into the room. It was just a precaution, he didn't want the blond boy to tear him a new asshole over his secret addiction.  
He didn't really have a specific reason for starting up smoking. Perhaps it was a way to help his nerves, protection from all the stress that came with having someone like Mello for a best friend. Maybe it was because he wanted to have control in his life, a choice for how he was going to die. Sure, lung cancer wasn't the best choice, but it worked.  
Of course, when Near had caught him and asked him why he did it, he had simply told him 'I was bored'.

Matt was half way through his third cigarette about an hour later when he heard the door start to open, he spat out the still lit stick and pulled his head back into the room, hitting his head as he did so. "Fuck, Mello what took you so long!?" He demanded, turning to face the blond boy who was standing in the doorway, hoping the boy hadn't seen the cigarette which may or may not be lighting the bush beneath his window on fire. He quickly shoved the pack of cigarettes into his pocket, thankful that Mello didn't seem to interested in the fact that his friend had been leaning out the window.  
Mello was standing in the doorway with a black eye and a bit of dried blood on his lower lip. "Chocolate." He said flatly, and Matt went to his dresser to fish out a bar for the older boy.  
"So someone actually managed to get a hit in on you?" Matt asked, surprised, as he handed the treat to his friend.  
"Yeah, and that was all the bitch got before I knocked her flat on her ass." Mello spat, tearing the foil off of the bar with his teeth and chomping down on it.  
"You hit a girl?" Matt asked, shocked and appaled. You didn't hit girls, you just didn't!  
"Gypsy..." Mello admitted, sitting down on the bed, "I found her and her gang in Near's playroom."  
Matt sighed, sitting down next to the blond, "What happened to the other four?" He asked, wondering if Mello hadn't beaten up the entire gang.  
"Shiloh and Bo tried to take me on, but the other two ran off and snitched on me," Mello growled, "Fucking cowards, I spent the last two hours in Rodger's office. I have detention for the next two weeks. Cleaning the kitchens."  
"Did you tell him why you attacked them?"  
"Yeah, I said I was pissed off at Near and they were the first people I came across." Mello stated matter factually. "I think that just made him angrier."  
The redhead just sighed, "And here I thought you'd done it _for _Near." He said, much to his friend's horror.  
"I'd never help that brat," He said simply, "the kid can go burn in hell for all I care."  
"Right, of course Mello." Matt said, grinning to himself.  
"I'm serious!"  
"Sure you are."  
"You want to die, don't you? Little goggle headed freak of nature."  
Matt smiled slightly, "C'mon, let's just go to class. I'm probably going to get detention for waiting for you."  
"Nah," Mello shook his head, "You go if you want, I'm gonna hang out here today. I need to think."  
So Matt stayed.

-0-0-0-0-0-dee dee dee dooo!-0-0-0-0-0-

The next week passed without much change. Three more redheads were killed by the mysterious murderer, and the police were tripping over themselves to find him or her and bring them to justice. L was either uninterested in the case, or simply working on it secretly, because there was no news of him taking it up. Matt had a theory that he was leaving the case alone simply because it was too close to Wammy's, and he didn't want any attention drawn to the area.  
Matt was starting to worry about Mello. The older boy was constantly waking up in the middle of the night, drenched in a cold sweat. The red haired boy didn't know what Mello's nightmares were about, but they seemed to be getting worse with each passing night. It was starting to freak the young teen out.  
To make matters worse, Mello wouldn't leave him alone anymore. Matt used to get time to himself to wander around and do as he pleased. But now it seemed that Mello always had something to do with him, play a game, study, spy on Near. Anything really. He even forced Matt to clean up their room with him once. And nothing Mello ever wanted to do involved going outside. Matt was starting to feel cramped. Though he assumed that Mello's sudden need for attention might have something to do with his nightmares. So he let it slide.  
The only time Matt got to be away from his friend nowadays (not including class time) was the hour period where Mello had to serve out his time in detention. But even then he wasn't alone. The other orphans seemed to be constantly checking to make sure that Matt was still alive, coming into his room without knocking and asking if he'd seen anyone suspicious.  
Even _Near _was making excuses to be around him and Mello. Though, Matt was thankful to say, he wasn't doing it for the redhead's safety, more so that he could avoid Gypsy's gang. They had begun keeping their distance from Mello, so the albino seemed to think that being around his rival was the safest place to be. And since Mello was always around Matt, that meant that the three of them were always together now.  
It was getting on the anti-social boy's last nerve.  
He needed some _space._And he couldn't get it in Wammy house at the moment.  
He had a plan though. Near would often wander away from him whenever Mello had his detention session. Dodging the younger kids wouldn't be too hard, he could do it. He would sneak out of the orphanage and spend the day in town. He was running low on cigarettes anyways. And maybe he could stop by the game store and buy some more DS games to keep himself entertained while he waited for the murderer to be caught.  
So as soon as Mello had shuffled off angrily to go serve out his sentence, Matt had made his move, taking off down the hall to his room without bothering to say goodbye to Near. Not that the kid would mind, he was turning to look for a safe place to hide from Gypsy for the next hour.  
Matt grabbed his DS and cigarettes quickly, opening the window and looking down at the ground two floors bellow him. He wasn't going to bother with sneaking out the front door. He was going to jump out the window, hopefully, the bush underneath him would break his fall. He climbed up onto the windowsill, trying to ignore the less desperate side of his brain telling him he was going to break a leg or something. He leaned over slightly, trying to measure the distance from his room to the ground, but decided that thinking about it was just going to give him cold feet. So, taking a deep breath, he positioned himself to leap, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was about to barge into his room.  
And then he jumped.

-0-0-0-0-0-How about a shave?-0-0-0-0-0-

One hour later found Mello grudgingly making his way back to his and Matt's shared room. Thankfully, Near wasn't following him around like a lost puppy at the moment. He wondered briefly why he didn't chase the albino boy off for using Mello as his personal shield instead of just tolerating the boy. But shoved the thought out of his head, it wasn't important anyways.  
When Mello opened the door he realized immediately something wasn't right. Matt was usually in the room waiting for him, lounging on his bed playing his gameboy, or leaning out the window (much to Mello's displeasure). But today he wasn't waiting at all, though the window was still wide open.  
Maybe he was in the bathroom, like when Mello had woken up from his first nightmare a week ago. The blond boy tried to calm down, not wanting to overreact like before. So he sat down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking of more ways to best Near academically. Or perhaps he should just get it over with and mail the boy to Peru. Yeah... Peru.  
Or maybe Alaska. The kid would get lost and freeze to death up there. No one would be able to find someone so... white in a place covered in all that snow. Of course... then Mello would be a murderer and...  
And where was Matt!? Really, how long did it take to go to the bathroom.  
Unless... Matt wasn't in the bathroom. But where could he've gone? It wasn't like him to just wander off; he always waited for Mello to get out of detention. Something must've come up.  
Or... what if.. what if the murderer really had gotten to Matt?  
No... then Matt would be lying in ribbons somewhere in the room. The killer had never tried to hide the bodies...  
Then... where had his gamer gone?


End file.
